ANKARA, 31 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - Local rights groups in Uzbekistan have expressed concern over efforts to block observers from attending the trial of human rights activist, Mutabar Tojibaeva, head of the Burning Hearts NGO. Full report

ANKARA, 30 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Asma Jahangir, who reports on violations of religious freedom around the world on behalf of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, continues to seek invitations to visit the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Full report

TASHKENT, 30 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - A key opposition leader well known for his vocal criticism of the Uzbek government following an uprising in the east of the country went on trial on Monday, charged with economic crimes, a lawyer and relatives said.Full report

ANKARA, 23 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - Rights activists in Uzbekistan on Monday criticised the closed trial and conviction of Saidjahon Zainabitdinov from the eastern city of Andijan, who had been instrumental in alerting the world about the violent clampdown by government forces on protests in the city in May.Full report

ANKARA, 13 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - Uzbek authorities suspended the work of the US NGO Freedom House for six months for allowing rights defenders to use its internet facilities, the organisation’s director in the capital, Tashkent said Friday. Freedom House promotes democracy and freedom around the world.Full report

ANKARA, 12 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - Significant economic progress was made during 2005 in Uzbekistan, although a worsening security environment and increasing Western criticism and isolation marred these achievements.Full report

ANKARA, 12 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - A prominent human rights defender and witness to the bloodshed in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan last May, has gone on trial charged with defamation and anti-government activities, relatives and a rights group said on Thursday. Full report

TASHKENT, 11 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - 6 April - Uzbek authorities have started criminal proceedings against the Tashkent office of Internews - an international media support NGO – the prosecutor general's office said on Tuesday.Full report

ANKARA, 2 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - The plight of four men held in Kyrgyzstan facing possible extradition to Uzbekistan, despite being granted refugee status by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in October, continued to raise concern on Monday. Full report

ANKARA, 20 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - The German government has yet to determine its next course of action following a recent call by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture to prosecute a senior Uzbek official for his alleged involvement in last May's Andijan massacre.Full report

UZBEKISTAN: Year in Review 2005 - Growing isolation

UZBEKISTAN: Year in Brief 2005 - Chronology of key events

KYRGYZSTAN-UZBEKISTAN: Focus on Andijan asylum seekers

UZBEKISTAN: Interview with leader of new opposition group – Sunshine Uzbekistan

UZBEKISTAN: Focus on Andijan following May unrest

UZBEKISTAN: Focus on cancer prevalence in the Ferghana Valley

KYRGYZSTAN-UZBEKISTAN: Focus on the impact of the Kyrgyz revolution in the Ferghana Valley